This invention relates to cooking apparatus, and in particular to cooking apparatus capable of effecting a kneading step, fermenting step and baking step either separately or in a continuous manner.
Recently, the hand-making of a food such as a mochi (Japanese rice cake), noodle, bread etc. is in vogue among general households. However, a known cooking apparatus can normally perform only one or two of a kneading step, fermenting step and baking step. For example, an electric mochi making apparatus can perform only a kneading step and an electric oven can perform one or both of a fermenting step and baking step. For example, a bread making apparatus includes all the three steps. A bread is made by kneading dough while adding yeast fungi, warming it to a fermenting temperature of about 38.degree. C. for about 50 minutes, and baking the fermented dough at a baking temperature of about 250.degree. C. in an oven. In a food such as a bread, requiring all three steps, an electric mochi making apparatus for kneading and an oven for fermentation and baking are necessary and all the three steps can not be performed continuously in a single apparatus. There is a growing demand for a cooking apparatus which can perform all three steps. Japanese Utility Model Publication 7352/76 discloses such apparatus. The prior apparatus is a bread making apparatus and comprises a kneading vessel for kneading dough by a kneading blade, a fermenting chamber disposed above the vessel to warm the dough for fermentation, and a baking oven disposed above the fermenting chamber to bake the fermented dough. It is needless to say that a mochi can be made utilizing only the kneading vessel and a glatin be baked utilizing the baking oven alone. However, such conventional apparatus becomes bulky, since the respective steps are effected in the respective sections of the apparatus.